This is a [[SubTrope particular type]] of AnthropomorphicPersonification that depicts a country (or some other sociopolitical or geographical unit) as one person, using that person's actions and foibles to make a comment on the country's politics and history. Sometimes this "person" is an animal or landmark (like the StatueOfLiberty). While it is OlderThanDirt with precedents going as far back as TheMiddleAges if not AncientGreece (the myth of Europa and Asia), this technique has been closely associated with newspaper political cartoons for the past few hundred years, and nowadays can be found in webcomics as well. As such, it may be considered a genre of comic, though it's been known to appear in other media (such as the anime of ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'') once in a blue moon. -----

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', as stated above, uses anthropomorphic personifications of various nations across the world as the main characters, using typical stereotypes to create the exaggerated personalities. It's considered by many to be the TropeCodifier.** And by extension, the fanworks the Webcomic/StateTanProject and WebVideo/IAmMatthewian, which expand on APH with personifications for the US states and Canadian provices, respectively.

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Uncle Sam is an actual comic book superhero from the 40's (currently owned by DCComics, and best known for being the leader of the ComicBook/FreedomFighters superteam.) He is the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification literal embodiment]] of the Spirit of America, created by the Founding Fathers using a magical talisman.

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[[folder: Film ]]

* One of the scariest and most disturbing uses of this trope can be found in the 1991 Soviet\Russian film ''House Under the Starry Skies''. Valentin Komposterov, the antagonist, is heavily implied to be the anthropomorphic representation of the accumulated 70 years of Soviet history and ideology. Unsurprisingly, he shrugs off rifle rounds and procures fantastic weaponry out of HammerSpace, all while alternating between gloating in front of his victims and spewing communist ideology.** Hehehe, [[IncrediblyLamePun "Hammer Space"]].

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* In a nod to the ''{{Punch}}'' cartoons mentioned below, the frontispiece of Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' is an in-universe political cartoon of Borogravia kicking Zlobenia [[GroinAttack in the crotch]], while Morporkia (the personification of [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]], looking like our world's Britannia) sarcastically looks on.

* Not quite nations, but in the Australian sketch comedy show ''NewsFreeZone'', the "88 Australia Street" segment was about a share house occupied by anthropomorphic embodiments of the Australian states.

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[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* ''Webcomic/AfganisuTan'' personifies nations as well, though more in a ''Moe'' style with a focus on Central-Asia. * ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'', which was created by a Danish artist who felt that some of the stereotypes of the Nordic countries in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' didn't match the ones that she was familiar with. Also provides the page image.* They aren't really that anthropomorphized, but the living countries from angusmcleod's [[http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/art/World-War-One-Simple-Version-128505446 "World War One: Simple Version"]], [[http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/art/World-War-Two-Simple-Version-73625561 "World War Two: Simple Version"]] and [[http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/art/Cold-War-Simple-Version-189698383 "Cold War: Simple Version"]] probably count too. * Not as people but, the [[Webcomic/{{Polandball}} ''Polandball'']] comics follow this trope to a T with the countries being, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin balls]].** Except for [[EldritchAbomination Reichtangle]]. Also Israel is a hypercube because of [[GeniusBonus Jewish Physics]]. And Nepal is a monster, due to its non-standard flag design.* [[http://andreshanti.deviantart.com/gallery/25342202 The South American Way]], which mainly follows the 2010 World Cup, although strips focusing on other topics like American colonization exist. Notable for its crossovers with ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'', which the author cites as the strip's inspiration.

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

* It's a pretty popular theme on DeviantArt, as seen in the [[http://kagome-inuyashkina.deviantart.com/art/This-is-our-world-number-2-244047206 this is]] [[http://kagome-inuyashkina.deviantart.com/art/This-is-our-world-number-1-233316685?q=gallery%3Aaph-ocs%2F28670043&qo=4 our world]] pictures.

* This [[http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/11/27/national-moe/ art book]] (Link is NSFW due to advertisements and thumbnails in the sidebar) depicts 74 countries as teenage girls, including North Korea.

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[[folder: Fan Fic ]]

* ''FanFic/ParisBurning'' is set in a world where cities have anthropomorphic personifications.